Royal Navy: 17 pictures of HMS Montrose's decommissioning ceremony at Portsmouth Naval Base

The Type 23, which has been in service for more than 30 years, had become a drug-hunter extraordinaire, carrying out countless narcotics raids in waters of the Middle East and seizing millions of pounds of drugs.

Her decommissioning ceremony was in Portsmouth on Monday.

Commanding Office Commander Claire Thompson said she felt incredibly privileged to have led HMS Montrose – adding that the ship will have a lasting legacy. She said: ‘It’s been really important to us that we mark the decommissioning correctly. It was everything I could have hoped for.’